Neural correlates of response inhibition for behavioral regulation in humans assessed by functional magnetic resonance imaging

To identify the specific frontal and cingulate regions involved in response inhibition, five Chinese right-handed male volunteers with an attention sp an reaching or exceeding a 7-digit level participated in this blocked desig n functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Each block represented one o f the two experimental conditions, the Correct Matching or the Incorrect Ma tching condition. In the Correct Matching condition, the subjects were requ ired to make correct judgement of whether the two 3-digit numbers presented in succession were the same or not; whereas in the Incorrect Matching cond ition, the participants were instructed to inhibit the correct responses. B ilateral activations of the prefrontal and anterior cingulate as well as th e left posterior cingulated cortex were observed while the subjects were ex ercising response inhibition. The roles of these activations in response in hibition were discussed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.